Dianic Wicca

Dianic Wicca is also known as Feminist Witchcraft and Feminist Wicca.

Beliefs and practices

Dianic Wicca, Dianic Witchcraft, and Feminist Dianic Witchcraft are all common titles for the Neopagan Feminist Dianic tradition. While some Dianics self-identify as Wiccans, some prefer the term Witch or priestess of the Goddess. Dianic Wicca can be very similar to traditional Wicca in practice (see section below for a discussion of their differences), but differs significantly from it in beliefs. Most Dianic Wiccans worship the Goddess only, acknowledging that She is the source of all living and contains all within Her. There are Dianic witches who practice other forms of paganism (possibly including honoring a male deity or deities) outside of their Dianic practice. Some Dianics are monotheistic, some are polytheistic, some are non-theistic.

Most Dianics worship in female-only circles and covens, but there are mixed-gender Dianic traditions. Eclecticism, appreciation of cultural diversity, ecological concern, and familiarity with sophisticated concepts of psyche and transformation are characteristic. Contrary to some characterizations, the majority of Dianics are heterosexual or bisexual women. A minority are lesbian, and some of these are associated with the position of lesbian separatism.

Many Dianic Wiccans believe that before recorded history there were widespread or universal matriarchal or matrifocal cultures which worshipped the Goddess, had matrilineal family structures, had social equality between the sexes, and did not practice war. These cultures were slowly supplanted by violent patriarchal groups; the original myths of the Great Mother and goddesses were subsumed into mythology honoring the conquerors and war gods. Dianics point to the work of influential and controversial archaeologist Marija Gimbutas. Says Utne: "UCLA archaeologist Marija Gimbutas turned historical scholarship on its head in the '70s and 80s with research that depicted peace-loving, co-operation-based Goddess-worshipping societies in ancient Europe-- which were overrun in the Neolithic era by Indo-Europeans who imposed patriarchal order. Gimbutas' vision of an earth-friendly, feminine-centered spirituality has sparked religious awakening; an estimated 400,000 Americans now declare themselves neopagans, and many more with feminist or environmentalist leanings are helping revive Goddess worship." Some Dianic Witches believe that matrifocal, Goddess-worshipping cultures existed literally, others see them as unproven but inspiring legends.

Political action is very important to many Dianic witches; personal empowerment is important to all. The saying "the personal is political" can be taken to mean that they view their choice to be Goddess worshipers as a political statement as well as a religious choice. Some Dianics have suggested that monotheistic worship of a male god (like God in Christianity, Islam and Judaism) is particularly harmful to girls and women because if the models for perfection and goodness and authority are male, then half of the population will always be perceived as inadequate (although the same could be said if deity is "female", the essence of the dianic tradition.)

Some Dianic Wiccans as "positive path" practitioners do neither manipulative spellwork nor hexing; other Dianic witches (notably Zsuzsanna Budapest) do not consider hexing or binding of those who attack women to be wrong.

History

This religion draws on pre-Christian Roman cults of Diana, on all Goddess-centered, matrifocal traditions worldwide, on wise women and women's mysteries traditions, and on Gardnerian Wicca, but the re-birth of this religion can also be traced back to the feminist movement of the late 1960s. In 1968 a group of radical political women formed a protest organization called W.I.T.C.H. which stood for "Women's International Terrorist Conspiracy From Hell" and called themselves a coven. Although W.I.T.C.H. was almost purely a political organization, it inspired covens around the country, some of which became spiritual as well as political in nature. Soon after, Z. Budapest a hereditary witch from Hungary formed the Susan B. Anthony Coven No. 1 in California and opened the first Women's Spirituality book and magic shop called the "Feminist Wicca". Women's cultural festivals began in 1973 and became a networking organization for women interested in Dianic Wicca.

Important figures (including non-Dianics)

Differences between Dianic Feminist Wicca and mainstream Wicca

Like other Wiccans, Dianic Wiccans may form covens, attend festivals, celebrate the eight major Wiccan holidays, Samhain, Beltane, Imbolc (or Imbolg), Lammas, the solstices and equinoxes (see Wheel of the Year) and the Esbats, which are rituals held at the full moon. They use many of the same altar tools, rituals and vocabulary as other Wiccans.

The most noticeable differences between the two are that most Dianic Wiccans form female-only covens while other Wiccans usually try to form covens with equal numbers of men and women (though they rarely achieve this); and that most Wiccans worship the God and Goddess, while Dianic Wiccans worship the Goddess as Whole Unto Herself.

Other differences are less remarkable and may not be noticeable to an outsider. These include how power is handled within the circle or coven. Traditional Wiccan covens ( particularly Gardnerian and Alexandrian) are led by a High Priest and a High Priestess who are often married to each other, and have either founded the Coven themselves after attaining second or third degree initiation in another Coven, or have been in the coven the longest. They usually lead every ritual and make all decisions regarding coven management. In most Dianic Wiccan covens, equality and personal empowerment of all is the rule; often the position of High Priestess or ritual leader(s) rotates among the woman for each Sabbat, so that every woman in the coven gets a chance to lead. Often the word 'High' is dropped within the Coven, and the word Priestess may be used more as a verb than a noun - so each woman takes turns to Priestess, rather than to 'be' Priestess. Group decision making will often be consensual rather than hierarchical.

While several Dianic groups do offer initiations into their tradition, some Dianic Wiccan covens do not offer initiation rituals in general or "degrees", preferring a less hierarchical group practice. In traditional Wicca there is often a period of initiation (sometimes for a year or more), before advancement to more full practice, and there can be systems of 3, 5 or more degrees of rank within a coven or tradition. A person is often only considered to be Wiccan once they have undergone this initiation, and may not start their own Coven until they have reached second or third degree. Whereas, in Dianic Wicca, initiation is not required in order to be considered part of the Tradition, and women are able to found their own Covens. In the drawing down the moon ritual in traditional Wiccan covens a man usually draws down the moon on a woman who assumes the role of the goddess; in Dianic Wiccan covens, a woman draws down the moon on herself and shares it with all of the members of the group.

Openness to outsiders is another large difference between the two groups. For many years Wiccans have been very secretive about their religion, (sometimes as a safety issue as there is still much controversy about Wicca). With the formation of Dianic Wicca in 1960s, Wicca in general was thrust into the public's view. Dianic Wiccans held public rallies, protests and even were involved in court cases. Zsuzsanna Budapest took on the State of California and got the law against fortune telling overturned. These actions helped to bring Wicca in general out into the open and helped to make it more of a mainstream religion. Despite this, there has been friction between some traditional Wiccans and Dianics; some Wiccans have expressed their concern about "imbalance" in Dianic practice by invading women's groups, shutting down rituals, and denouncing Dianic practitioners. Most pagans are now much more respectful of each other, and consider such behavior extremely inappropriate.

Because of the political stance of many Dianic Witches, their celebrations often include Goddesses and traditions from Third World countries or underpriviliged groups in industrialised nations, whereas mainstream Wicca has a tendency toward Euro-centrism, e.g. Celtic, Classical and Asatru deities. Mawu, Yemaya and Ix-Chel (from Mayan mythology) are examples of non-European Goddesses popular with Dianics.

References

Interview with Starhawk in Modern Pagans: An Investigation of Contemporary Pagan Practices, ed. V. Vale and John Sulak, Re/Search, San Francisco, 2001, ISBN 1-889307-10-6.

External links

Religious feminism | Wiccan traditions | Wicca Dianica | Tradições Diânicas